BRIDGEPORT -- The most recent state inspection of the Stratford Avenue bridge found various cracks, rust holes and missing bolts, but repairs are at least two years away, state officials said this week.

The inspection in January rated the bridge deck a 6 on a scale of 0-9, indicating that it is safe to use and poses no hazard. The bridge superstructure was rated a 4. The report listed several structural and mechanical problems, including a crack along the length of a concrete support beam, cracked mortar and other evidence othat the bridge piers have settled, rotted out spots on the "bumpers'' protecting the piers in the Pequonnock River, rusted-out patches and missing bolts.

The bridge was out of service for more than an hour Tuesday morning, stuck in its open position, forcing motorists to detour and use the East Washington Avenue bridge, the only other working span.

The DOT manages the bridge because Stratford Avenue is a state road, Route 130. The state also manages the bridge a quarter-mile east that carries Stratford Avenue/Route 130 over the Yellow Mill Creek, Nursick said.

The bridge had been one of three over over the Pequonnock River, before the Congress Street bridge was torn down three years ago. The "lift'' bridge on Stratford Avenue is usually opened several times a day in good weather to allow marine traffic to pass, but the other remaining span, on East Washington Avenue, is rarely opened, officials said.

Repairs to the Stratford Avenue bridge "are not urgent,'' DOT spokesman Judd Everhart said, stressing that the span is safe to use.

A project to address the mechanical and electrical problems cited by inspectors, along with deficiencies in the superstructure and substructure is in the planning stages. Construction won't likely begin until at least 2016, Mark Levesque, the state's bridge program manager, said in an email.

The steel grid deck, stringers and the sidewalk along the bridge were replaced in 2007, he said. The present Stratford Avenue bridge was built in 1975 and carries 12,700 vehicles a day.

"It's a mechanical bridge near salt water, the toughest environment for machinery like that, and so it has mechanical issues from time to time," Nursick said.

The Congress Street Bridge, which is the city's responsibility, will eventually be replaced, officials said. In the meantime, grass has been planted and benches installed on either side of the missing span.

Jon Urquidi, the city's engineering supervisor, said design of the new span is 90 percent complete, but funding isn't available to build it.

The new bridge would cost $60 million, and it would take nine months to a year to get all of the permits in place, Urquidi said.